Upon a Midnight Clear
by sinking like stones
Summary: "Azula," said Ty Lee quietly, almost huskily as she unwove her braid with long, manicured fingers. "Can we keep him? I think we'd be really good pet parents. Especially you! You're really good at everything." [Oneshot for the Tyzula Gift Exchange]


AN: This is for the Tyzula Gift Exchange. This fic is for the-blonde-jennie. I'm not used to past tense so I hope this doesn't sound stupid or not like my normal voice. It felt kind of like a storybook or Christmas story when I was writing it so past tense sounded better in my head.

* * *

Princesses Azula and Ty Lee became parents on a crisp, clear, chilly midnight walk.

As they walked, Ty Lee occasionally tried to hold Azula's hand but that was not the type of thing Princess Azula ever did. Ty Lee only stopped her subtle war when she saw a scruffy, evidently ill fire ferret limping on the side of the gravel path.

"Princess, please, we have to save him. Please!" Ty Lee fell on her knees to beg and Azula could not deny those wide, glittering eyes of hers. Spirits, the things she did for love.

Azula strode over and picked up the scruffy, limping fire ferret. It melted into her arms, unafraid, or perhaps just desperate for the warmth of a firebender's skin.

"Azula," said Ty Lee in that tone the princess never could resist, in all her coldness and cruelty, "we need to help him get better."

"The proper thing to do is to let it die. Or, if we are feeling kind, put it out of its misery."

Ty Lee sniffled. Azula ground her teeth, trying to make a decision.

"I will allow you to give it food and water, and that will be all."

"His name is Cinnamon Puff." Ty Lee beamed, proud of the name she chose for her new pet.

Azula huffed. "You named him. Now that you named him, we are going to have to keep him, aren't we?"

Ty Lee bounced. "Yay!"

How many kittens did Azula kick in a past life to deserve this?

* * *

Mai was in the kitchens, not at all a proper place for royalty to be. She was mixing some kind of alcoholic beverage and presumably was all the way down here to hide that from Zuko.

"What is that?" demanded Mai as

"A fire ferret," chirped Ty Lee.

Mai grimaced at the creature. Ty Lee pouted; Azula couldn't blame the Fire Lady.

"Does it have some kind of disease?" she asked.

"He's Cinnamon Puff. He's the new royal pet."

"I've never been able to care for a pet. How are an airhead and a psychopath going to manage that? Last time I had a-"

Icily, Azula interrupted, "Details of your incompetence do not interest me."

Mai dryly commented, "Do you think that statement was a good representation of you as a person?"

Azula paused to think for a moment before deciding upon, "Yes."

Ty Lee fed and watered the scruffy fire ferret and took him to the washbasin to clean up his fur, using the kitchen knives to carefully remove mats.

Azula sat on an empty countertop and watched, taking turns with her sister-in-law sipping from a [].

"I'd bet you twenty gold pieces it dies before sunrise," said Mai.

Azula splashed alcohol on Mai's face in one impulsive move.

"Don't you dare speak of Cinnamon Puff so frivolously again. I will gouge out your eyes, then kill you, then kill everyone in this palace, and then kill myself if you even look at Cinnamon Puff with scrutiny."

Mai wiped off her face and rubbed her eyes. She somehow managed not to laugh.

Azula maintained her regal, indignant expression.

* * *

Ty Lee set a calmer, happier Cinnamon Puff down on her pillow as the sun slowly began to rise. It had been a long night. Azula yawned and resisted the strong urge to pet him. She was not letting that little furball make her show weakness.

Ty Lee smiled, because she could see the growing love for the fire ferret in her wife's molten gold eyes.

"Azula," said Ty Lee quietly, almost huskily as she unwove her braid with long, manicured fingers. "Can we keep him? I think we'd be really good pet parents. Especially you! You're really good at everything."

Ty Lee batted her eyelashes and toyed with the straps of her nightgown.

"Pet parents?" purred Princess Azula.

"Uh-huh."

"I see. Want to play mommy and daddy? It's like boyfriend and girlfriend but more… responsible," purrs Azula. Ty Lee's heart flutters.

They kissed and tore each other's clothes off.


End file.
